Massage Therapy Instructors
Emeryville Massage School
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Trena FosterCampus Manager/InstructorTrena is a 2004 graduate of Bryan College School of Massage. Since then, she has worked at various places, including a massage clinic and a local spa, maintained regular clientele at a busy chiropractic office, and managed her private clients. She was introduced to National Holistic Institute and became part of the Sacramento teaching team in 2016. Now, she is sharing her wealth of knowledge and years of experience to help people find work they love at the NHI Emeryville location. As Campus Manager, she is excited to guide students towards their passion and lead them to a future in bodywork! "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."Lisa MendiolaInstructorLisa is a 1996 Graduate of NHI's Core Massage Therapist & Health Educator Program and has been a dedicated NHI employee for over 15 years. Her contributions to NHI's mission of "Helping People Have Work They Love" have come through numerous roles held, which include Student Life & Career Coordinator, Mentor, Campus Manager, as well as her current role of Instructor. Lisa is passionate in establishing connections with each individual who passes through NHI's doors and looks to provide each Student and Graduate with a balance of support and motivation, tailored to their specific needs. Lisa invites any opportunity to share knowledge about the benefits of massage with others and loves to share mini massage facts with children and youth. I guess one might say that she enjoys "planting the seeds of self-awareness, self-care, and a life-long practice and love of receiving massage."Kirsten StaleyDirector of Training & Program DevelopmentKirsten began her journey with NHI as a student in 2004. While nurturing a growing love for massage therapy, she realized that she naturally also gravitated toward a skill set built in her previous career: training and education for adult learners. As a student tutor at NHI, and later as a Teaching Assistant post-graduation, Kirsten was able to explore a variety of approaches to teaching and learning while honing her massage skills. When NHI approached her in 2006 to invite her to merge her loves of education and massage by becoming a teacher, she jumped at the chance. While growing a robust and diverse massage practice, Kirsten also began to grow with NHI. Kirsten focused strongly on understanding the Core Program curriculum and how to effectively deliver it to a wide-variety of students. Over the years, Kirsten became a key member of the curriculum and faculty training teams, teacher and trainer of the ANMT Program, Co-Manager of the ANMT Program and now currently is the Director of Training and Program Development for all NHI programs and campuses. “My passion is to create educational experiences that make teachers excited to teach and students excited to learn.”Kate MorrowInstructorKaitlyn started her adventure as a Massage Therapist in 2020 when she graduated from an Advanced Medical Massage Therapy program in Southern California. Since then, she has had the greatest experience working in several different environments such as clinics, spas, chiropractic offices, and moving on in creating her own private practice. Now, she has finally reached one of her bigger goals of teaching at the NHI Emeryville campus and enjoys seeing the multiple sides of the massage world through her day to day activities: as a student, a massage therapist, and a teacher. She loves to see others find their passion or drive through something they are interested in and hopes to bring that out of each student that comes along the way. “Sometimes it is the journey that heals us the most before we reach our destination and that is where we thrive.”Jamere DaileyInstructorJamere Dailey began his journey in massage therapy in 2014. He's a Neuromuscular massage therapist who enjoys providing positive results for the most challenging of muscle related issues. Jamere's goal is to raise the aspirations of the next generation of massage therapist, and witness how they will take massage therapy to a new level. He's in a perfect position to do so as an instructor at National Holistic Institute. "I can massage really well, I'll prove that you can too!"Gabrielle Brown-WingInstructorGabrielle began her massage career in 2008 when she graduated from NHI’s Core Program. She enjoyed the muscular anatomy education she had received as a student, so she also completed the Advanced Neuromuscular Massage Therapy program when it debuted in 2010. In her massage practice, she utilized a number of modalities, particularly deep tissue and trigger point therapy, to help meet her clients’ needs for each session. As an instructor, she draws on her personal experience in the field and her love of learning to help students find their own niche as bodyworkers. “Every body tells a story, and as massage therapists, we have the privilege of helping our clients write their next chapter.”Akilah TuttInstructorAkilah Tutt graduated from the Petaluma campus of NHI in 2010. She began her massage career at the Silverado Resort & Spa in Napa, CA. She enjoyed the foot reflexology modality and loved performing Meyer Lemon Salt Scrubs. Incorporating Myofascial Therapy's technical aspect of pain reduction proved to be another joyous benefit of her sessions. She is currently serving as an Instructor/Mentor for the Emeryville campus. Her favorite quote is, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."